With 40 million units sold to date, Resident Evil is one of Capcom’s most lucrative video game franchises, and the company is quite happy to spread the love to each of the major video gaming formats. The latest release in the family is Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil, a budget-priced Wii version of the GameCube remake of the original Resident Evil. The Archives version of Resident Evil might not add anything of significance to the experience, but it gives non-GameCube owning Wii fans a chance to enjoy one of the best remakes in gaming history.

If you own a copy of the GameCube version of Resident Evil, there is practically no good reason for you to get Resident Evil for the Wii, given that the only new addition to the experience is an adaptation of the game’s control system to the standard Wii Remote and Nunchuck control setup. This is not like Nintendo’s own New Play Control! range, where GameCube games have been updated with new Wii-focused controls and graphical features like widescreen and progressive scan display modes. Unless you are a collector of all things Resident Evil, you will gain little from this version of the game, and are better off saving your money.

Those who missed out the first time around, however, are in for a treat. The Resident Evil remake is easily one of the best survival horror games around, and an example of how video game remakes need to be handled. The core concept of the game is the same; you play as one of two members of a special police team sent up into the mountains surrounding Raccoon City to search for your fellow teammates who were investigating some bizarre murders in the area. Of course, Murphy’s Law intervenes and you wind up in a creepy looking mansion. The infamous cheesy dialogue (“Master of unlocking”, “Jill sandwich” etc.) has been discarded, replaced by a more sensible and serious script, and a new, more capable team of voice actors was brought on board. It is still not the cream of the crop, but it is a giant improvement.

Resident Evil’s key selling point was its complete visual overhaul. The game looks absolutely amazing, even seven years later. The game uses extremely high detail pre-rendered backgrounds, so everything looks a lot better than it would in real time, and the character models are detailed enough to blend into the environment properly – a key issue of earlier games in the series. Another highlight of the game’s presentation is how camera angles, lighting and music all come together to create an atmosphere of suspense and unease. While previous Resident Evil games were mostly about jumpy scares, the remake has a much darker atmosphere.

Loads of changes have been made to Resident Evil’s gameplay structure for the remake. The layout of the mansion is similar, but there are new areas to explore, most of the items have been moved around, and some of the puzzles have been changed. The survival horror elements are played up a lot more – ammunition and healing items are in even more limited supply than the original, to the point that it is better to not kill enemies unless you have no other option. The reason for this is that zombies will transform into new “crimson head” zombies one hour after they are killed if players fail to either decapitate them, or torch the corpse. There is a limited supply of gasoline in the game, and you can only carry enough in your flask to take care of two corpses. The game features the classic “tank” style control system with limited aiming control, which may annoy players that joined the series with Resident Evil 4, but helps to build suspense.

Resident Evil features two different interpretations of the game, based on whether you choose to play as Chris or Jill at the start of the game. Chris’ game is the harder of the two; he is much stronger than Jill, but he is unable to carry as many items, so players will spend a lot more time backtracking to item storage boxes. Jill cannot take as much punishment, but she starts the game with a gun and is able to hold eight items at a time, as opposed to Chris’ six. Each character has several unique items; Jill gets a lockpick to help her get around the mansion faster, along with a Taser to assist in zombie struggles, while Chris gets grenades he can stuff in a zombie’s mouth and shoot from afar.

It takes about eight hours to run through each character’s side of the story, but be wary that the game is quite difficult. It is easy to play yourself into a corner and have to restart the game because you have run out of ammo or killed too many zombies and are stuck in a mansion full of evil crimson heads. There are extra difficulty modes for players looking for an even greater challenge, and rewards for beating the game with higher rankings. Unlockables include extra costumes for the main characters and new game types, like the “One Dangerous Zombie” mode where players are followed around by a zombie who is rigged with enough explosives to bring down the mansion in the event that players kill him, or come into contact with him.

Even seven years after its release, the Resident Evil remake remains one of the finest survival horror games available. It also looks amazing – quite a feat given its use of pre-rendered backgrounds, which tend to age poorly. The game is built in a way to maximise suspense and emphasise survival; it is not just a simple run and shoot experience. The remake is harder, scarier and just all around better than the majority of the Resident Evil games that preceded it. If you missed the remake on the GameCube or want to discover the earlier games in the series, Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil is a vital addition to your gaming catalogue.